Knife-wielding suspect shot and killed by Napa police ID'd

NAPA COUNTY, Calif. (KTVU) - The Napa County Sheriff's Department is investigating the deadly officer involved shooting of a man in a parking lot by two Napa police officers.

On Tuesday police identified the suspect as 23-year-old Noel Russell of Napa. Napa County Sheriffs' Office has notified the next of kin of his death. 

Napa Police Chief Steve Potter says dispatch received multiple 911 calls around 6:20 p.m. Monday night. Witnesses reported seeing a man brandishing a knife in the area of Soskal and Kansas in front of the Home Depot.

Isidro Zarate, a homeless man who stays in the area tells KTVU he witnessed the police shooting.

He says the man walked across the street to a parking lot and confronted his two friends. Witness Zarate says the man appeared angry and was saying things that didn't make sense while he was waving around a foot-long knife. Shortly after, he says police arrived.

"He said to the police...you fight me....you fight me...the knife like this. When he put the hand like this, the officer in the center ...(he makes a shooting motion)... three or four times and the guy fell to the floor, " says witness Zarate.

Napa police chief Steve Potter says according to witnesses, "They said  the subject was acting as if he were high or crazy. Officers were dispatched to the scene. They found that the subject had walked across the street to the north. They contacted him in the lot and multiple shots were fired shortly after."

Chief Potter says two officers from his department opened fire.

It's not known yet if the shooting was captured on the officers' body cameras. The incident is being investigated by Napa County Sheriff's Department.